19 November 2008
Xai-Xai — As in other parts of Mozambique, on Wednesday morning long queues formed at the polling stations in Xai-Xai, capital of the southern province of Gaza.
In these, Mozambique's third municipal elections, the citizens of Xai-Xai are being asked to choose between granting a second term of office to the current mayor, Rita Muianga, or replacing her with the Gaza provincial delegate of the former rebel movement Renamo, Bento Mavie.
Some voters told AIM they had been queuing up since four o'clock - three hours before the polling stations were due to open. Some of them did not hide their disappointment at the slow pace of voting, as the queues inched forwards.
Among the first to vote was the Gaza provincial governor, Raimundo Diomba. He appealed to all voters in Xai-Xai and in the four other municipalities in the province to exercise their democratic right to choose their municipal leaders. By voting in massive numbers, he added, Mozambicans were showing the world they are able to make use of the rights enshrined in the country's constitution. Diomba also urged the competing candidates to accept whatever the results of the elections might be.
The Gaza provincial director of the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), the electoral branch of the Mozambican civil service, Maria Ombe, said voting had started at 07.00 in all five municipalities. Since 03.00 in the morning STAE teams had been visiting the polling centres, to make sure that all the electoral material was in place, and that voting could occur normally.
Both Rita Muianga and Bento Mavie expressed confidence in victory. "I am happy and confident", said Muianga, "first because I have exercised my right as a citizen to vote, and second because, although it is still very early, voters are lining up at the polling stations, which shows they were receptive to the appeals we made during the campaign". She was certain that she would be re-elected, and would be able to continue implementing the Frelimo programme for the city.
But Mavie also claimed victory in advance, taking heart from the large turnout. "I feel moved by these large crowds", he said. "They show that people have accepted the appeal to come en masse to the polling stations".
In reality, Mavie's chances could charitably be described as slender. All of Gaza is Frelimo of territory. In three general elections in the past decade and a half, not a single Renamo member of parliament has been elected for Gaza.
In the 2003 municipal elections in Xai-Xai, the Frelimo candidate, Ernesto Mausse (who died while in office) won 95 per cent to just five per cent for his Renamo opponent.
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